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I will go on, I will live ain

Marietta set aside the diary, and there were tears on her face Aphrodite had lost her Jemmy, lost her love It did not sound as if the life of a courtesan was quite what Marietta ih for Aphrodite—she had still wanted ain

Chapter 11

Marietta handed the footent Street The new plate-glass s gleaht and the reflections of fellow shoppers She was adreen muslin dress with the pink rosebud pattern, and its double skirt with two flounces Under that skirt she earing a new pair of green slippers, tied about her ankles with ribbons Her feet were aching from the lack of any support offered by the slippers, which were thin and without a heel, but they were very pretty There was nothing quite like a new outfit to cheer one up, and she had been feeling a little dowdy—Yorkshire was all very nice but it wasn’t at the forefront of fashion In London the styles seee every other day, and while Marietta did not consider herself so shallow that she must always have the latest style, she did like to be smart

Just then a figure paused behind her A broad chested man in a shabby brown coat and plaid trousers His eyes, in his rugged pugilist’s face, nized him It was the man she had seen in Bedford Square when she had visited Max there and stood at the ith Mrs Po Harold and Susannah arrive He had seemed as out of place there as he did here, and how odd that she should see hiain!

He recognized her, too, she could tell His htened and his eyes flared and then he quickly walked on, leaving her wondering whether she should be afraid

“Miss Greentree!”

Startled, she glanced around expecting to see the sa upon a coach that looked fa to attract her attention “Daniel?” she said, unaccountably relieved to see hi here?” Even as she walked towards him she saw that it was indeed Max’s coach

“Master Max wants a word, Miss,” Daniel said, clearly proud of hi her down

“Does he?” Marietta leaned against the door, and standing on tiptoes, peered inside “Max? Are you well enough to be out? Your head is barely healed, and the doctor said your brain ht swell”

He was looking pale and elegant, and he raised his eyebrows at her comments “Miss Greentree, perhaps you would be so kind as to allowas my private business is to the rest of London, I don’t particularly want to discuss it in front of them”

She felt the color in her cheeks She was being more impulsive than usual, she supposed, but for a ood sense and caution She glanced around and, finding that Vivianna’s footestured for him to come and open the door and help her inside “You can ride with Daniel,” she told him kindly “If that is acceptable to his lordship, of course?”

Max ignored her sarcaso by way of Regent’s Park,” he said for Daniel’s benefit, and then settled back in his corner and waited superciliously while Marietta fiddled and wriggled and finally made herself comfortable

The truth was that her stays were too tight, but she wasn’t going to tell Max that Marietta had never fully accepted her size and shape The trouble was that her sisters were both tall, and Marietta was short, and although she lass shape, she felt that she was just too curvaceous With this in mind she had insisted her new dress be made a little shtly laced At least then, she told herself, she kept her lush curves in check So a little too self-critical—it ht actually be ht of Susannah Valland’s tall, y shape had heightened her dissatisfaction with her own

“Is there a reason you are here, Max?”